Mozilla pauses cryptocurrency transactions due to its environmental impact.
Mozilla was forced to suspend the company’s announcement of cryptocurrency donations on New Year’s Eve after co-founder Jamie Zawinski tweeted his opposition.
Echoing Zawinski’s tweet and Mozilla’s decision, Wikipedia publisher GorillaWarfare opened a request for comment on Wikimedia’s meta-wiki, urging the organization to stop accepting cryptocurrency donations.
Over the years, individuals have expressed dissatisfaction with cryptocurrencies because of their carbon footprint and enormous energy consumption.
A single transaction on the Bitcoin blockchain consumes the same amount of energy as the average U.S. household in 77.8 days or about two and a half months.
Mozilla is not the first organization to position itself against cryptocurrencies because of its environmental impact. In May 2021, Elon Musk announced Tesla’s plan to stop accepting bitcoin payments.
Environmental charity Greenpeace announced that it would no longer accept cryptocurrencies from May 2021, citing the environmental impact of cryptocurrencies as the reason for the action.